The other night, I sat on my porch and watched chain lightning sprawl across the sky for over an hour and it was truly spectacular. I’m hoping for more of the same in the coming days, perhaps paired with hot tea and a good book.

Next week will be filled with some invasive medical testing and a review of this weeks test results, so the plan is to simply stay positive and find reasons to be grateful.

I am astonished by how itty bitty and self-contained mobile heart monitors are nowadays. Weighing less than an ounce and held in place by three inches of thin adhesive, I forgot I even had it on. Medical technology has become so noninvasive that its wearers could arguably be considered cyborgs, which could be a very interesting discussion for another day.

“Artists do not fear their work, they fear the person they will become. Because all art is a discipline and disciplines carry individuals across thresholds, but new beginnings are frightening and no sensible person dare contemplate such an idea.” (source)

Last year, I backed Simple Happy Kitchen on Kickstarter. It’s a fun and informative book on vegan lifestyle that offers great introduction to vegan foods and guidelines for hitting macro- and micro-nutrient goals.

SNAP benefits add up to $1.86 per person, per meal. Here’s what that looks like. Food stamp recipients are often the most at risk for lifestyle-related medical issues, and I would love to see an initiative to teach such individuals how to optimize funding for better health.

Rob Greenfield collected 30 days of trash, living like the average American and then turned the mountain into a suit he could wear. The purpose of this project was to create a memorable visual of how much garbage one American creates. It visualizes clearly how much individual actions matter and how much they add up. So fascinating!